Karena ketidakjelasan menenai kewajiban letters of credit (L/C) yang baru ditetapkan, Pemerintah Indonesia telah memutuskan untuk bersikap fleksibel. Dimulai dari hari Rabu (01/04) para eksportir Indonesia dari empat komoditi kunci - batubara, minyak (inti) kelapa sawit, minyak & gas, dan bahan-bahan mineral - diharuskan menggunakan L/C untuk semua perjanjian ekspor. Kebijakan baru ini dibuat untuk meningkatkan pemasukan ekspor Indonesia dan meningkatkan pengawasan penjualan sumberdaya alam Indonesia. Kendati begitu, pengecualian sementara kini dimungkinkan terjadi.

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Pada tanggal 29 Maret 2015, Indonesia Investments menerbitkan newsletter edisi terbarunya. Newsletter gratis ini, yang dikirimkan setiap minggu kepada para pelanggan kami, memuat berita-berita paling penting dari Indonesia yang dilaporkan di website kami dalam tujuh hari terakhir. Kebanyakan topik membahas isu ekonomi seperti analisis performa rupiah, prediksi pertumbuhan perekonomian oleh institusi-institusi internasional, rencana pemerintah untuk merevisi pajak ekspor minyak sawit dan melonggarkan larangan ekspor bahan mineral mentah, dan banyak lagi.

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Pemerintah Indonesia berencana untuk merevisi kebijakan pajak ekspor minyak sawit mentah (CPO). Menteri Koordinator Bidang Perekonomian Sofyan Djalil mengatakan bahwa Pemerintah berencana untuk menerapkan pajak tetap senilai 50 dollar Amerika Serikat (AS) per metrik ton untuk ekspor CPO ketika harga CPO menurun di bawah batasan yang dibuat Pemerintah yaitu 750 dollar AS per ton. Hal ini menyiratkan bahwa tidak mungkin lagi bagi para eksportir minyak sawit Indonesia utuk melakukan pengiriman tanpa biaya. Saat ini, para eksportir minyak sawit bisa mengekspor CPO tanpa biaya karena harga CPO telah berada di bawah batasan 750 dollar AS sejak September 2014.

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Diperkirakan bahwa ekspor minyak sawit mentah (crude palm oil/CPO) dan hasil olahannya jatuh pada Februari 2015 karena permintaan yang lambat dari India dan Republik Rakyat Tionghoa (RRT), dua negara pengimpor minyak sawit terbesar di dunia. Ekspor juga menurun karena produksi kedelai dunia meningkat (minyak kedelai adalah bahan pengganti yang mirip dengan minyak sawit untuk digunakan sebagai bahan makanan dan biodiesel). Berdasarkan pada median dari enam penghasil minyak sawit, perkiraan para analis dan lembaga, pengiriman minyak sawit Indonesia (termasuk bungkil inti sawit) jatuh 6% pada basis month-to-month (m/m) menjadi 1,7 juta metrik ton di bulan Februari.

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On 1 March 2015, Indonesia Investments released the latest edition of its newsletter. This free newsletter, which is sent to our subscribers once per week, contains the most important news stories from Indonesia that have been reported on our website in the last seven days. Most of the topics involve economic matters such as a forecast for February inflation, an analysis of the rupiah exchange rate, news from the coal mining and palm oil sectors, Islamic finance, the IPO of Mitra Keluarga Karyasehat, and more.

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Indonesian crude palm oil (CPO) exports rose about 15 percent year-on-year (y/y) to 1.8 million tons in January 2015 from the same month last year. However, on a month-on-month (m/m) basis Indonesian CPO exports fell 8 percent in the first month of 2015. Fadhil Hasan, Executive Director at the Indonesian Palm Oil Producers Association (Gapki), said that CPO exports from Southeast Asia’s largest economy declined in January as demand from nearly all main CPO export markets, particularly China and India, fell at the year-start.

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The benchmark stock index of Indonesia (Jakarta Composite Index) hit a record high on Friday (06/02) on the back of rising palm oil-related stocks (palm oil demand is expected to grow due to the Indonesian government’s proposal to increase biodiesel subsidies) and an improvement in the country’s foreign exchange reserves which shows that economic fundamentals remain strong in current global uncertain times. Corporate earnings results of Indonesian companies also provide positive market sentiments.

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Due to the Indonesian government’s plan to increase biofuel subsidies from IDR 1,500 per liter to IDR 4,000 per liter - in a move to protect the domestic biofuel industry - palm oil futures climbed the most in 28 months. Amid the world’s current low crude palm oil (CPO) prices, Indonesian biofuel producers have it rough as production costs exceed market prices and therefore requested the government to raise biofuel subsidies to offset losses. If approved by Indonesian authorities then this move should result in higher palm oil demand.

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On 2 February 2015, Indonesia Investments released the latest edition of its newsletter. This free newsletter, which is sent to our subscribers once per week, contains the most important news stories from Indonesia that have been reported on our website in the last seven days. Most of the topics involve economic matters such as an update on January inflation and the December 2014 trade balance, foreign direct investment, palm oil export, car sales, a land reclamation project, and more.

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The Indonesian Palm Oil Producers Association (Gapki) believes that it is difficult for Indonesia to achieve the government’s target of collecting USD $36 billion by 2019 through crude palm oil (CPO) exports as several government policies disturb the performance of CPO exports. Moreover, global commodity prices (including palm oil) are still showing a downward trend - hence limiting foreign exchange earnings - as global economic growth remains sluggish. Economic growth of China, a major CPO importer, is expected to slow further this year.

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Indonesia's largest supplier of crude palm oil (CPO), Astra Agro Lestari, is expected to see improving corporate earnings in the years ahead on the back of the rising CPO price and expectation of the company's climbing CPO production volume. The year 2016 was a good year for Astra Agro Lestari as it reported a 224.2 percent year-on-year (y/y) jump in net profit and a 7.6 percent (y/y) increase in sales, led by sales of CPO and derivative products. This was a great recovery from the preceding year. CPO and derivative products account for more than 86 percent of the company's total sales.

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The completion of its factory and being granted an additional sugar import quota is expected to boost corporate earnings of Tunas Baru Lampung, one of Indonesia’s leading producers of vegetable cooking oil (covering palm and coconut cooking oil). Furthermore, the company will feel the positive impact of rising crude palm oil (CPO) prices. Tunas Baru Lampung is part of the Sungai Budi Group, an Indonesia-based manufacturer and distributor of agricultural consumer products.

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The higher crude palm oil (CPO) price will have a positive impact on the corporate earnings of Indonesian CPO producers, including Sampoerna Agro. Benchmark palm oil futures for March 2017 delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange were at 3,161 ringgit (approx. USD $706) per ton at the end of last week, near a four and a half year high. However, not all analysts advise investors to purchase shares of Sampoerna Agro, a company that is listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange.

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Indonesia's Industry Ministry selected the industrial estate in Berau (East Kalimantan) as the center for the downstream palm oil industry in Kalimantan. Furthermore, Panggah Susanto, the Industry Ministry's Director General for Agriculture industry, said the government proposes to select Berau as one of the palm oil centers within the Palm Oil Green Economic Zone (POGEZ) scheme. Berau is chosen to replace Bontang because the former has 3,400 hectares of (clear and clean) industrial land available, while land in Bontang still falls under "protected forest" status.

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Non-governmental environmental organization Greenpeace blocked all import and export channels of crude palm oil (CPO) trader IOI on Tuesday morning (27/09) in the harbor of Rotterdam (the Netherlands), the city that acts as palm oil’s gateway into Europe. Greenpeace activists decided to take action after a Greenpeace International report showed that palm oil from companies that are reportedly involved in forest destruction, peatland fires and child labor is still flowing into Europe and the USA through IOI facilities.

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The crude palm oil (CPO) price touched its highest level so far this year. On Tuesday (20/09) palm oil futures (December delivery) - traded on the Kuala Lumpur exchange - ended the day at 2,690 ringgit (approx. USD $651 per metric ton). Palm oil prices are rising as CPO production in Indonesia and Malaysia will remain subdued this year due to droughts that were brought by the El Nino weather phenomenon earlier in 2016, while there is expectation of a rather wet season later this year due to the La Nina weather phenomenon.

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Expectation of rising fresh fruit bunches (FFB) and crude palm oil (CPO) volumes in the second half of the year should boost the corporate earnings of Astra Agro Lestari, one of Indonesia's leading agribusiness companies. Meanwhile, sentiments related to the La Nina weather phenomenon and rising CPO demand on the back of the Indonesian government's biodiesel program should support CPO prices. Astra Agro Lestari is the plantation unit of diversified conglomerate Astra International.

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Indonesian President Joko Widodo has ordered the nation's Minister of Environment and Forestry Siti Nurbaya to issue a moratorium on new palm oil concessions in a number of provinces. Although Widodo wants Indonesia - the world's top producer and exporter of crude palm oil (CPO) - to raise CPO output, he believes this increase can be achieved by increasing productivity of existing palm oil plantations, not by adding new plantations. Indonesia is often criticized by environmentalist groups for its forestry policies and poor law enforcement (which led to the severe haze that spread through Southeast Asia last year).

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Indonesia's crude palm oil (CPO) exports rose 9 percent month-on-month (m/m) to 2.29 million tons in February 2016 on the back of growing CPO demand in Africa, Bangladesh, India and the European Union. Indonesia's February CPO export volume was better than estimated previously. Analysts had expected a figure below 2 million tons. Combined, Indonesia's palm oil exports reached 4.39 million tons in the first two months of 2016, up 22 percent (y/y) from the 3.59 million tons of CPO that Indonesia exported in the same period one year earlier.

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Crude palm oil (CPO) production in Indonesia and Malaysia is expected to decline due to the impact of the El Nino weather phenomenon (that brought a prolonged dry season to Southeast Asia). CPO production in Malaysia could fall between 1.5 and 2 million tons this year according to Dorab Mistry, Director at Godrej International. Declining output in the world's two leading palm oil producers and exporters implies that palm oil prices should be able to rise further. At the start of this week palm oil futures traded in Kuala Lumpur (June delivery) rose to 2,779 ringgit (approx. USD $695) per ton, the highest level since March 2014.

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